Instead of playing Dungeons and Dragons and whatnot before the fight against The First, the core Scoobies wonder what their lives would have been like if one aspect of each of their lives was changed...Chapter Eight up.

Anya
hastily parked her car into the back parking lot at the Sunnydale Airport. She rushed out of the car and opened
the back doors to allow for her children to get out. She picked up Morgan and balanced her on her right hip. With her left hand, she clasped
Matthew's hand tightly. She kicked
the back door shut and began quickly walking through the parking lot.

"Where
are we going?" Matthew finally asked. Neither he nor Morgan spoke an entire word through the whole
car ride to the airport. Matthew
doubted his sister could even fully comprehend what was actually
happening. She was only six after
all, and it was way past time for her to be in bed.

He,
on the other hand, was older. He
knew trouble when he saw it, and his parents were definitely in trouble. He did not know or want to know the
details, but something was not right.
"Mommy?" he asked as they neared the closest entrance to the
airport.

"Hmm?"
Anya asked. She was no longer
crying, but she was still distracted.
How could Xander do that to her?
She thought their marriage was fine. Everything was fine between them. They were still mad about each other. They had two wonderful children and
plans for a third. How could he
cheat on her with all that?

"Where
are we going?" Matthew asked again as the three of them entered the
airport.

"Where
would you like to go?" Anya asked as she let go of Matthew's hand and
shifted Morgan's position in her arms.
"Do you want to go to Disneyworld? We could go to Disneyworld. What about the beach?
Hershey Park?"

"Ooh,
Hershey Park!" Morgan rasped.
Although her voice was barely audible over the commotion in the airport,
the excitement in it was obvious.
"Can Vicky come? We
really wanna go."

"Did
you even hear me?" Matthew asked angrily. "I don't want to go anywhere. I want to stay in Sunnydale with Dad."

Anya
sighed heavily. "Matthew, I'm
sorry, but your father has other things to do. We need to get out of the house."

"Then
why can't we stay at Aunt Buffy's?" Matthew asked angrily.

"We
need to get out of Sunnydale," Anya corrected. She walked over to the flight schedule for something that
was leaving relatively soon.
"How about New York City?" she asked. "I'm not one for cities, but
you've never been there."

Matthew
frowned again and glared at Anya.
"I'm not going," he told her as he sat down on one of the
benches.

"You
can't stay here," Anya told him.
"You'll be kidnapped."

"Good,"
Matthew stated angrily.

Anya
sighed once again as she knelt down in front of her son. "Please, Matthew," she
begged. "It's not
forever. Just for a few days. You can pick the place and can have any
seat on the plane. Please."

Matthew
frowned once again. "We
really have to leave?" he asked.

Anya
nodded. "Yes, and we have to
leave now," she told him as she stood up. "Where would you like to go?"

Matthew
shrugged. "Hawaii, I
guess," he said.
"Dibs on the window seat!" he announced as he started racing
towards the ticket line.

Three
hours later, the three of them were situated on the plane. Matthew had gotten his window seat, but
he was too busy playing game boy to care.
The plane had taken off about half an hour ago. Morgan was asleep with her head on
Anya's shoulder. Anya smiled
slightly as she looked down and kissed her daughter's forehead.

She
exhaled deeply. She was making the
right decision, wasn't she? She
had to get away from Xander. She
sighed as she tried not to think of it.
She got on this plane to get away from all her issues back in Sunnydale
after all.

The
man in the aisle seat next to hers looked over at her. "Rough time?" he asked
sympathetically.

Anya
looked at him. He did not look
that bad. He also did not look
like he would take advantage of her.
The flight to Hawaii was supposed to be a long one, and she did not want
to make it in silence.

Anya
nodded. "The worst," she
admitted. She looked over at the
man once again. He seemed nice. "You probably have more things to
do than hear about it," she told him.

The
man shook his head. "This is
a long flight," he reminded her.
He smiled as he extended his hand to her. "Warren Mears."

Anya
smiled back slightly as she shook his hand. "Anya Ha…Anya."

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